Written expressly for this publication
by Lieut. Cot C. W. Whittlesey,
Commander of "The Lost Battalion"

As one of the members of a regiment that fought in France,
the memories that are most vivid with me, now that two years have
gone since the war has ended, are the memories of the nights and
days when the simple unknown soldiers of the regiment showed their
fineness under trial. In a forest in northeastern France in a
cold and damp October, without rations, without surgical attention,
cut off, as they supposed, from the notice of their fellow men,
they gave to the day's hardships and duties a courage and plain
human kindliness that will always make one proud of the record
of the American soldier. Such achievements are not attributable
to any officer or group of officers or leaders. They arise from
brave men working unselfishly together with faith in the cause
which they serve. When an individual shows courage under stress,
we feel a thrill at his achievement, but when a group of men flash
out in the splendor of manliness we feel a lasting glow that is
both pride and renewed faith in our fellow men. And as a member
of such a regiment, for which I feel deep affection, I feel a
bond of understanding and fellowship for the American soldier
in every place and time, doing his job simply and finely, asking
neither sympathy nor praise. May the armistice be lasting, and
these great qualities find their true place in Peace.

November 11, 1920.

Memorial Address

By COL. N. K. AVERILL
of the 308th Regiment

At Services of Lieut. Col. Charles
W. Whittlesey

We of the 308th have come to pay a last tribute to the memory
of our loved comrade and friend Charles Whittlesey.

I speak for the heart of the regiment when I say that we all
are mindful of his outstanding character, mindful first of that
attribute given to few men, the absolute lack of fear, seen and
known by many of us before that day when he sprang into world-wide
fame. Ordered to advance thru the densest part of the thicket
of the great forest of the Argonne to take a certain fixed objective
and hold it, he succeeded, and alone with his battalion reached
the designated point far in advance of the troops on his right
or left. The enemy soon surrounded his position, and then began
those numerous attacks lasting four days and nights. Over one
hundred hours passed without food of any kind and with but little
water. With the majority of his command killed or wounded, surrounded
by the dead and dying, with no succor or help for the wounded
and yet when the call for the surrender came, how instantly he
refused it, and took in at once the only bit of white showing---the
white of the ground panel for signalling to the Air Service; thus
saying "They shall not pass" and no Hun passed save
from the Here to the Hereafter. No man as a soldier can stand
higher in the history of the republic and no man is more entitled
to the nation's gratitude.

Mindful too of the wonderful mind, we were more impressed by
that stern and strict conscience, the inheritance of those Puritan
ancestors, a conscience always sure of the right and from which
line of action no power could ever make him change. Coupled with
all this was the highest sense of duty I have ever seen.

Mindful too of that other side of his character, the gentle
and sympathetic nature which was so marked on all occasions, causing
him to be known as "Brother Charles," I know that I
speak for all of us when I say that it has been given to none
to ever meet a man who more closely approached that knightly Bayard
of old in that he was without fear and without reproach.

While at first we were stunned and could hardly credit the
news, yet the more I think his case over the more firmly I am
convinced that his death was in reality a battle casualty and
that he met his end as much in the line of duty as if he had fallen
by a German bullet on the Vesle or in the Argonne, The scars of
conflict or the wounds of battle are not always of the flesh.
We, of the Regular Army have seen too often the results of mental
strain, even in the older soldiers.

Let us briefly review his war service. Answering at once his
country's call and coming from his quiet, scholastic life of a
city lawyer, he was thrown almost immediately into the fiercest
fighting the World has ever known. How heroically he arose to
the emergency suddenly thrust upon him history will always tell,
but what a mental strain it must have been on that shy, retiring,
kindly and lovable man when he could do nothing to relieve the
suffering or the agony of those gallant men dying beside him---and
this after all had reached the last stages of physical exhaustion
due to a hundred hours constant fighting and hunger; with this
were the unspeakable conditions and the horrors of the battle
field where it had been impossible to bury the dead, and the sole
responsibility rested on him. Whittlesey had that rare and moral
courage which makes men great, and in that emergency he held on,
to the everlasting credit of the American Army.

This occurred a little over three years ago, but he has never
been away from those scenes from that day on. Coming back to this
country, he found himself a popular hero much against his wishes
and inclination. Constantly called upon for aid and advice by
the mothers and widows of the dead and missing, he gave everything
he had, everything that was in him---not only to them but to all
the men of the regiment, wounded and in trouble---who found in
him a ready friend, counselor and aid.

His last answer to the call of duty was on November 11th, 1921,
when, with the other Medal of Honor Men of the regiment, McMurtry,
Miles and Kaufman, he attended the final ceremonies at Arlington
for the Unknown Soldier. I think we all can see him standing there
with these memories of the suffering and pain of war surging through
his mind. We know how he suffered until at last that great heart
broke, but the memory of Charles Whittlesey will always be an
inspiration to the officers and men who served with him in France.

I can only add, speaking for the regiment, that from the heart
of each of us goes up the prayer that the God, who in His Infinite
Wisdom saw fit to take from our midst Charles Whittlesey, may
give to his soul that peace and quiet for which he so longed.